A Stronger Alliance
by Mystical Magician
Summary: A CCS/Young Wizards crossover. Sakura and the gang become wizards and receive special training. To anyone who would like to read my future chapters I'm going to put this into the Cardcaptor Sakura category when I update again. R&R!
1. The Book

Hello everybody. I just had a great idea for a CCS/Young Wizards crossover. ~Pauses~ Well, I think it's great anyway. Oh go on. Laugh. Everyone else does. I know I've been putting off a lot of other stories. ~People cheer~ Well, honestly. They aren't that bad. Anyway, I think this is my best one yet. Please review.

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"Tadaima!" Nita called out as she walked in the door and dropped her backpack. 

Her family looked at her uncomprehendingly.

"It's Japanese for 'I'm home'," explained Nita, grabbing an apple out of the bowl. "I'm practicing for when Kit and I begin our assignment."

"What assignment?" asked her mom.

Nita hesitated. "Um. . . it's a wizard's assignment. We just found out about someone in Japan that needs help. She's about to become a wizard and needs guidance that she can't get from trial and error. The manual was a bit vague about what needs to be done, but we definitely need to go. The tickets are already paid for," she added hurriedly.

Her parents looked less than pleased, to say the least. "Honey," said her mother in concern, "I don't think you should go. Remember what happened in Ireland?"

''Mom, you don't understand. The Powers want us to go and are going to arrange it somehow. We can't turn down an assignment. It's our job to make sure things go the way they should." Nita was feeling desperate. She didn't want to go against her parents' wishes, but no wizard could turn down a job without good reason and 'My parents won't let me' was not a good reason.

"I know, I know, Neets." Her mom sighed and grinned ruefully. "At least school will be out in a few days for summer vacation." Her expression became suspicious. "When were you planning on telling us anyway?"

"After I talked to Carl," she answered nervously. _And asked him if he had some time to sell _she added silently.

"I suppose there's no stopping you," her dad said wryly.

"When are you leaving?" questioned her sister, Dairine, who was putting the milk away.

"In five days. Isn't it exciting?" said Nita.

"Sorry to disappoint you," Dairine told her seriously, "but I can't come with you. I guess you'll just have to find a way to deal without my expertise."

Nita rolled her eyes and turned to her parents.

"You'll understand if I never come back, right?"

~*~

Sakura Kinomoto was lying under a sakura tree in the park, gazing up at the petals. A gentle breeze blew, toying with her hair. She tucked an excess strand behind her ear and sighed. 

_What did the dream mean? _she wondered. _It's important, I know._

It had started with a book, one more powerful than Create. But it didn't look like anything special. Then there were images of many people, but the only ones she recognized were herself, Tomoyo, Syaoran, and Eriol on one side of a chess board. In the background she saw Touya and her father. And on the other side of the board there was a great, shapeless evil leading a group of creatures. There were few humans. In fact there were few of any one race, but together they matched the number of people on the opposite side. As they stormed across the board the stench of rot and decay flooded her senses. And that was when she had screamed.

_I don't want to have anything to do with it,_ she thought fiercely. _I'm taking a break. That's why I sent Kero and Yue with Ruby Moon and Spinel Sun to China for a vacation._

All of a sudden she heard a voice say, "Sakura?" and Syaoran appeared in her view.

"Hoe!" she exclaimed in surprise.

"Are you okay?" asked Syaoran in a rare show of concern.

"Hai. I was just thinking."

"About what?"

"Nothing important," Sakura lied. "What are you doing?"

"I was walking to the bookstore. Do you want to come?" asked Syaoran.

"Sure," agreed Sakura. 

Syaoran helped her up.

"Arigato," she said and brushed herself off. "Are you okay Syaoran? You look red."

"Hai, I-I'm f-fine," stuttered Syaoran blushing as red as a tomato.

Sakura shrugged. "Okay then. Let's go."

They walked in companionable silence for a couple blocks until they reached the store. Once they were inside they split up and went in different directions. After fifteen minutes they met in front of the register. 

"What did you find?" asked Syaoran.

Sakura showed him the book. It looked old, but it was in pristine condition. The title read 'So You Want to Be a Wizard.'

It was the book from her dream. She knew it. It pulled at her and that made her nervous. 

"Let's invite Eriol and Tomoyo over tomorrow. Then we could all read it together," suggested Sakura. If anyone knew about it, Eriol would. And she couldn't leave out her two friends. Besides, Syaoran made her feel stronger, more confident in herself.

"Sure, if you want," agreed Syaoran confused.

Sakura gathered together all of her courage and gave Syaoran a quick hug.

"Arigato," she said hurrying home leaving him standing there, blushing madly.

~*~

"So why did you want us here, Sakura?" asked Tomoyo.

"I wanted to show you guys this book I got yesterday," said Sakura cheerfully. She studied Eriol carefully, but he didn't seem to think the book was unusual.

"Whoops!" she exclaimed as the book fell from her hands. Eriol picked it up and looked at the page it had fallen open to.

"Listen to this," he said in a puzzled voice. "'In Life's name, and for Life's sake, I assert that I will employ the Art which is Its gift in Life's service alone.'" He stopped as something tugged at his senses.

"Don't stop in the middle of it!" exclaimed Tomoyo. "Here." She took the book out of his hands.

"'I will guard growth and ease pain. I will fight to preserve what grows and lives well in its own way;'" she read. Then she paused as a strange silence descended around her. The noise others made seemed far away and unimportant.

"What _is_ it with you guys? Give me the book," demanded Syaoran and he began reading. "'and I will change no object or creature unless its growth and life, or that of the system of which it is part, are threatened or threaten another.'"

He paused and looked around for the unfamiliar power he had sensed. Sakura, who was looking over his shoulder, finished the last sentence.

"'To these ends, in the practice of my Art, I will ever put aside fear for courage, and death for life, when it is fit to do so - looking always toward the Heart of Time, where all our sundered times are one and all our myriad worlds lie whole, in That from Which they proceeded....'" 

The words seemed to be speaking instead of Sakura and as she neared the end her voice slowed and quieted until she ended barely above a whisper. 

The tension slowly drained away until the group sat limply inthe various chairs and couches. 

"What just happened?" asked Syaoran tiredly.

"Well, my dear descendant, perhaps we should read the book and find out," suggested Eriol cheerfully. Well as cheerfully as you could be when your glasses hung askew, you didn't have the strength to fix them, and it felt like gravity had been multiplied by about 100.

Syaoran didn't have the strength to do more than glare at the half reincarnation. "Come over here so I can strangle you," he said gritting his teeth.

"Syaoran, that's not nice," admonished Sakura.

He blushed bright red and muttered something incomprehensible.

Eriol smirked and Tomoyo giggled and exerted great effort to train the camera on Syaoran.

"Kawaii," she murmured focusing the camera first on Syaoran and then on Sakura.

"Hoooeeee," said Sakura looking confused.

*~*

"Whose bright idea was it to make us catch the early flight?" asked Kit. 

He and Nita were walking a bit ahead of tneir parents through the airport at 5:00 in the morning. Kit was carrying two suitcases and they looked heavy.

"You know, you don't have to pretend they're so heavy," said Nita as she tripped and almost fell head first into a chair. 

"Who's pretending, Clutz?" asked Kit. "They _are_ heavy. You should have heard my mother when I was packing." He tried to imitate his mother's voice. "Did you remember your sunscreen? I heard it can get hot in Japan. Don't forget sunglasses. Oh, and make sure to pack your bugspray. You know how bugs love you." He shook his head, at loss for words.

Nita giggled. "But what was wrong with a spell to make luggage lighter?" she questioned.

Kit looked thunderstruck and then sheepish. "Not one word," he told her. "Don't say anything or I will kill you."

Nita guffawed as he recited the spell silently, but then she had used up all of her energy and shuffled on, as sleepy as ever.

After what seemed like forever they finally reached their gate.

"I feel like I conquered Sweden," muttered Kit as he flopped down on a chair.

Nita didn't waste her breath talking.

"I'm going to get something to drink, anyone else want something?" asked Mr. Callahan, coming up behind them.

"Caffeine," said Nita in a muffled voice, fluttering her hand weakly.

Everyone else gave him their order and sat down to wait.

At about 7:00 they boarded the plane. Their parents looked worried, but there wasn't anything they could do about it.

"Try not to get into too much trouble," said Nita's mother as they hugged.

"I'll try Mom, Dad," said Nita. She turned to see Kit being talked to in a steady flow of Spanish. Finally Kit extricated himself and joined her.

"What was that about?" asked Nita as they waved sadly one last time before boarding.

"Last minute instructions," replied Kit wearily as they turned to go.

"Ah."

"So what's the schedule, Neets?" asked Kit.

"We'll stop in Seattle for an hour before continuing on to Japan," she told him as they got settled in their seats. Nita took the window seat and Kit sat next to her. "How long does it take to get to Seattle, anyway?" asked Nita.

"About six hours."

"Okay," said Nita, glad that she had thought to bring a few books.

Kit began an animated conversation with the plane (silently, of course) and Nita drifted off to sleep. When she awoke they were halfway there.

"They just announced that breakfast would be either an omelet or a cheese blintz," Kit informed her.

"Arigato," she said absently.

"You're welcome," he said. "Hey, I found a quickee language spell. You just have to input what language and for how long. But you also need an object from that country."

"So we can't use it 'til we get there," stated Nita in disappointment.

Kit shook his head morosely. "Nope," he confirmed.

"Crud."

Just then the stewardess brought by the breakfast cart. "What'll you be having?" she asked with a smile.

"Cheese blintz," said Nita.

"Same here," said Kit.

Nita picked at her meal trying to discern what it was. Finally, she tried a tiny bite.

"I guess it's okay," said Nita doubtfully. "But where's the cheese?" She tasted only apple, cherry, and the dough.

Kit looked a bit sick after trying the scrambled eggs that came with it. "Why don't we be grateful that it isn't there?" he suggested. 

*~*

"What have we gotten ourselves into?" groaned Syaoran.

"Well, from the looks of it, these Powers That Be thought that our prior knowledge of and ability to do magic would help greatly, we've taken an Oath without knowing about anything, become wizards, and agreed to a strenuous and deadly Ordeal where survival chances are exactly 71.2521%," summed up Eriol with cheerfulness that got on Syaoran's nerves, just as he had intended.

"The question was rhetorical, Hiiragizawa," Syaoran said, giving him his famous death glare. It didn't work very well on Eriol, who just smirked.

"Alright. That's enough you two," Tomoyo cut in. "Let's figure out what to do first."

"Let's try the Copy-Cat spell so that we can each have a manual," suggested Syaoran.

"Good idea, Syaoran!" exclaimed Sakura. "But who's going to read it? None of us knows anything about the Speech."

"The spell isn't too long and there's a pronunciation guide after the Oath," said Tomoyo. "I could do it, but it will be a bit slow." 

"Don't worry about it, Tomoyo," said Sakura. "I know you'll do a good job."

Tomoyo flashed her a grateful smile and began reading, flipping constantly between the pronounciation guide and the spell. It seemed to them as if, as soon as the Speech was spoken, many different presences leaned in closer wanting to hear the words that seemed to speak to the soul.

As soon as she finished reciting there were three soft '_pop_' sounds and three other books appeared on the table next to the original book.

Tomoyo stared for a moment before letting out a glad shriek. "Having magic is so much _fun_!" she shouted.

Eriol and Sakura laughed and even Syaoran had to crack a smile.

*~*

"Finally," said Nita as she stood up and stretched. They had arrived in Seattle. "My legs were falling asleep."

"Yeah," said Kit. He looked a bit ill. "I knew I shouldn't have had that sausage."

"Serves you right," said Nita unsympathetically. "Didn't you learn anything last time at the Crossings?"

Kit groaned as they walked up the ramp into the airport. "Don't remind me."

"What time does the plane leave for Japan?" asked Nita, changing the subject.

Kit glanced at his watch. "Twelve. That gives us about an hour."

They began walking toward their gate. 

As they were about to check in they heard on the loudspeaker, "If anyone would like to give up two seats for this family to be able to travel, we have a plane leaving tomorrow at noon."

Nita and Kit exchanged glances and nodded. Wanting to help others was part of what had made them suitable for wizardry.

Later, after exchanging tickets and calling home to tell of the change of plans, the two partners sat down in an available seat and sighed.

"What do we do now?" asked Nita.

Just then a tall, nervous looking girl with straight brown hair and green eyes came up to them.

"Are you Christopher Rodriguez and Juanita Callahan?" she asked.

"Yes," Nita replied cautiously.

"Oh good," she said looking relieved. "I mean, dai stiho. I'm Kimberly."

"Dai," said Nita. "Call me Nita."

"And I'm Kit."

"Come with me," said Kimberly. "I was sent to take you to the Red Lion Inn. Carla wanted to tell you about something unexpected that happened, that may make your assignment easier or more difficult, it's hard to say. Then I could take you sightseeing or something. We apologize for the inconvenience, but we felt it necessary for you to know. Do you have all of your stuff?"

"Yes," answered Kit.

"Then let's go. Here are the coordinates for Carla's room," she said showing it to them.

They arrived within minutes and were met by a tall energetic lady. She had short red hair and bright green eyes.

"Dai stiho," she said warmly. "Would you like something to drink? Pop, water, juice...."

"I'll have some water," said Kit. The other two nodded in agreement.

After they had gotten settled Carla began talking.

"We apologize for the inconvenience, but we felt you had to know about the change in your assignment."

Nita and Kit listened attentively.

"Originally you were only supposed to guide Sakura Kinomoto, but her friends have taken the Oath as well. Now you have three others to guide besides her. Syaoran Li, an exchange student from Hong Kong, Eriol Hiiragizawa, an exchange student from England, and Tomoyo Daidouji, Sakura's best friend, daughter of Sonomi. They have been adjusting to this remarkably well. The manual suggests a prior use of magic, but we can't know for sure. You must teach them about wizardry, as much as you can. They'll need the knowledge soon. Especially the Speech, and a wizard learns faster when taught by one more experienced." She finished her explanation and watched for their reaction.

They looked at each other.

"Well, I think this is more interesting than anything we've done before," stated Kit.

"And bound to be more dangerous, life-threatening, and ultimately more satisfying," sighed Nita.

"Great! When do they start?" asked Kimberly with fake enthusiasm, pretending to look forward to it. 

They laughed.

"So what do you guys want to do?" asked Kimberly.

Kit shrugged.

"There's the Spaceneedle, Science Center, Bullwinkle's Family Fun Center...."

"How about the Spaceneedle and then the Science Center?" suggested Nita.

"Sounds good," said Kit.

"Okay."

They waved goodbye to Carla and disappeared.

They reappeared on top of the Spaceneedle.

Nita yelped and grabbed on to anything to keep her from falling.

Kimberly quickly finished the Sticky Finger spell that she had prepared so that no one would be in danger of falling off.

"Cool spell," Kit commented.

Once Nita had calmed down they sat back and enjoyed the view.

"There's Safeco Field. And down there's the Science Center. That's where we're headed next."

They popped down there when they finished looking around. Kit was fascinated with the robots, while Nita found herself liking the Imax theater and dinosaurs.

*~*

The next day they arrived at the airport at 10:00 Pacific Time. They had spent the day before sightseeing and taking pictures.

"Well, it's been fun," said Kit awkwardly as they prepared to board the airplane.

"I'm glad we got to stay," Nita agreed.

"Come and visit again. I can show around. You can meet some of my friends," suggested Kimberly.

"Maybe we'll stop on the way back."

"Give my regards to Sakura," said Kimberly.

"You know her?" asked Nita in surprise.

"Yes, and I can see why the Powers wanted her whole team. She tips the scale in our favor," said Kimberly.

Nita and Kit looked puzzled, but didn't press for information.

They waved to their new friend as they walked toward the plane and a new assignment.


	2. Tutors

**Sorry this update took so long. I had it partly done when the stupid PDA erased it so I had to start over. Oh, and everyone (the Cardcaptor gang and Kit and Nita) is in 9th grade. Well...On with the story.**

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"You are only young once, but you can stay immature indefinitely."

-Unknown

Syaoran:mutters accusingly: "Eriol."

Eriol: "What's that my cute little descendant?"

Syaoran:innocently: "Oh, nothing, nothing at all. And don't call me that! It's not _my _fault you've been immature for several centuries."

Eriol: "So sorry to disappoint you, but that quote cannot possibly apply to the great and glorious me."

Syaoran:gags: "Don't make me sick."

Sakura: "Why?"

Eriol:smugly: "I've been young twice."

Tomoyo:rolls her eyes: "Anyway, please read and review."****

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If you happened to walk into the living room of the Kinomoto house unexpectedly, you might have been surprised to find a group of four lounging in various places on the furniture (or in the air) studying a book. Unless you happened to be Kero, Yue, Ruby Moon, Spinel Sun, Touya, Fujitaka, or any member of the Li clan, in which case you might not be surprised, but think it a waste of energy sitting in the air. And if you mentioned it - or even thought it loudly - the person in the air would protest that it was perfectly comfortable, thank you very much, and you would be smart enough to leave it at that.

            Eriol, Tomoyo, Syaoran, and Sakura studied their books, mostly in silence, drawn by the need to learn as much as they could before whatever they felt would happen did. 

            "I don't understand why this works though," said Sakura breaking the silence. She frowned.

            "I think if you know its name, know it's true name, it will do what you ask. It's like when you captured Mirror. You had to know what it was before it would do what you wanted it to. In that case, you wanted to capture it," explained Syaoran.

            "Oh, I get it," said Sakura with a smile. "Arigato Syaoran."

            Syaoran, inevitably, turned a bright fire engine red. "Is it just me, or is it hot in here?" he asked nervously.

            Eriol smiled with his best I'm-just-an-innocent-boy-and-not-an-evil-half-reincarnation smile as he replied, "It's probably because you think Sakura is ho-." He broke off as he felt the spell that kept him in the air begin to dissolve.

            **Watch it Hiiragizawa** warned Syaoran telepathically.

            **Watch what my cute little descendant?**

Syaoran looked ready to blow. ** Don't _call _me that.**

Eriol smirked while trying to look righteous. **And it's my duty to protect my daughter when you're hitting on her. **He thought a moment. **Well, my other half's daughter.**

**            _I'm _hitting on your _daughter_?! Why I...Of all the...You little...**

            Luckily he was saved from trying to form a coherent sentence when Sakura said, "Why don't we try this spell? On page 23. It's called The Calling."

            "But I have the Siren's Song on that page," said Tomoyo puzzled. "Why's that?"

            "It seems that these books are attuned to out interests or special skills," said Eriol. "Since Tomoyo likes to sing, she probably has more of those spells. Syaoran and I have Cat Eyes because we like working with the raw magick."

            "Oh Lord that's scary. I have something in common with Earl Evil," muttered Syaoran.

            Eriol smiled evilly, glad to oblige.

            "What's Sakura's specialty?" asked Tomoyo as she searched the index for the correct page.

            Eriol floated over to Sakura and looked over her shoulder. He looked puzzled. "She doesn't seem to have one. There is an equal number of each different type of spell."

            "Is there something in here that explains about it?" asked Sakura.

            Syaoran scanned through the pages when something caught his eye. "Listen to this," he said and began to read.

"Since no person is just alike, each manual is attuned to that person's talents and interests. Based on the wizard's input it gives the information that would help the wizard learn in the best way possible. Some wizards, however, do not stay in a certain area of familiarity. Rather, they dabble in all areas. These wizards are rare and tend to become Area Supervisors, Advisories or Seniors. It is also a sign that the wizard is very powerful. Even more powerful than the rare talents, such as the raw magick, song, and energy. The regular power levels do not always apply to these wizards."

      "Huh. Cool. I'm powerful," said Tomoyo. "And I never thought I had any magick."

            "What was this spell you wanted to do?" asked Eriol to Sakura.

            "It calls to us the power that we need to learn this as fast as we can. It's supposed to help us with some kind of test we have later on," said Sakura. She frowned. "I'm not to clear on what the test is."

            "What do we need to do?" asked Syaoran.

            Sakura studied the spell. "All we need is a telephone cord. I'll read the spell." She looked up. "Who has a telephone cord?"

            "Be right back," said Eriol. He disappeared dramatically with a boom in a cloud of colored smoke.

            "Hm. He's in a yellow kick now," commented Tomoyo absently.

            "It was better than the time he was into pink," murmured Sakura. 

            "Yeah," agreed Syaoran emphatically. "That was disturbing."

            Eriol soon returned to the sound of fanfare.

            "The Lone Ranger again?" asked Syaoran in a bored tone of voice.

            "Would you rather have this?" questioned Eriol and the music began again.

            "No no. The Lone Ranger is fine," reassured Syaoran hastily with a pained expression on his face. His expression became one of righteous anger.

            "Damn you Hiiragizawa!" he shouted forgetting to do it telepathically. "You have the stupid song stuck in my head!"

            Eriol responded by humming It's a Small World After All. He was barely saved from being torn apart at the hands of his cute little descendant by Sakura, who had discreetly looked up a spell to keep Syaoran in place.

            "Cool it you two. And there's nothing wrong with It's a Small World," said Tomoyo haughtily.

            "Now apologize," chimed in Sakura.

            Syaoran responded by trying to lunge at Eriol.

            "Syaoran!" Sakura rebuked.

            "I apologize," said Syaoran through gritted teeth, for when dealing with the most powerful sorceress in the world, there wasn't much else you could do.

            "Now it's your turn Eriol," said Tomoyo.

            "I also apologize, Syaoran," said Eriol graciously, knowing that he wouldn't get very far if he didn't.

            Tomoyo traded looks with Sakura. "I don't know," she said doubtfully.

            Sakura nodded her agreement.

            Eriol and Syaoran began to look worried.

            "Maybe they could do better," suggested Sakura, "but..."

            "I suppose we can't keep them there forever," finished Tomoyo.

            They burst out laughing at the same time and Sakura let the two boys go.

            "Now let's begin the spell," said Eriol in a business-like tone, as if nothing had happened.

            "Place the cord in the middle of that circle Tomoyo drew while you two were going at it," instructed Sakura. "It's my turn to try a spell."

            Eriol did as he was told, careful not to smudge any of the lines. 

            "Now come check this and make sure everything's right, especially your names," said Sakura.

            They all did this, albeit slowly, since they did not know the Speech.

            Eriol added a little to his name and modified a little until he thought it described him accurately. The others let theirs be, determined to make them more detailed later.

            Eriol glanced up and then stood slowly. "Ready."

            Sakura began to read. Although she read slowly, she sounded sure of herself and the words took on a subtle, song-like quality. Her voice drifted off as she reached the last words. 

            "Well, that's that," said Tomoyo and began to disband the circle.

            A thought struck Syaoran. "How long until we get results?" 

            "Ano...I didn't look," confessed Sakura sheepishly. 

            The group sweatdropped.

            Sakura scanned the page until she found the answer. "Four to six weeks." She did a double take. "Hoeeee. I can't wait that long."

            "We're going to have to wait," sighed Tomoyo. She brightened immediately. "Oh well! Let's keep practicing."

~*~

            "We are now landing in Tokyo, Japan. The time is 2:47. Please keep your seat belts on until the plane makes a complete stop. Thank you for traveling International Airlines. Have a nice day." 

            Nita assumed the message was repeated in Japanese since she couldn't understand what the stewardess said next. 

            _Note to self. Do quickie language spell as soon as possible._

            If there was one thing she hated, it was not understanding what was being said right in front of her. 

            "Ready?" asked Kit.

            "Ready as I'll ever be," answered Nita as she put away the book she had been reading.

            As soon as the plane rolled to a stop Nita stood and stretched, wincing as her back popped. 

            "Ow," muttered Kit, rubbing his legs.

            They gathered their stuff and followed the line of people into the terminal. Nita stopped and looked around at everything. It was just as crowded as her own airport at home, but the snatches of conversations she heard were in Japanese instead of English. On the far wall was a large banner proclaiming "Konnichiwa" and underneath it, "Hello" in smaller letters.

            She and Kit didn't see the man until he tapped Nita on the shoulder.

            "Konnichiwa (Hello)," he said with a bow. "Anata wa Rodriguez Christopher-san desu ka, Callahan Juanita-san desu ka? (Are you Christopher Rodriguez and Juanita Callahan?)"

            "Hai (Yes)," answered Kit as both he and Nita bowed. 

            "Hajimemashite (Nice to meet you)," they said in unison.

            "Hajimemashite," he replied. "Watashi wa Area Senior no Hitoko Kenji desu. (I'm Kenji Hitoko, the Area Senior)."

            "I don't suppose you speak English?" asked Nita.

            "Wakarimasen," said Mr. Hitoko confused. 

            Nita sighed. "Chotto matte kudasai," she said to Mr. Hitoko. Then to Kit, "Is there anything we can use for the quickie language spell?"

            "We could ask Mr. Hitoko. I mean, I don't know enough Japanese to go looking for a brochure or something without seeming rude," suggested Kit.

            "And you think I know enough to ask him about a spell?" demanded Nita. "I barely had time to learn how to introduce yourself in the survival Japanese class."

            "Why don't you just show him the Manual?" said Kit.

            "Okay," said Nita and flipped the book to the correct spell before showing it to Mr. Hitoko. She wasn't surprised to see the words seem to blink and melt to form hiragana, katakana, and kanji.

            Understanding dawned on him and he reached into his pocket and pulled out a flyer. "Douzo (roughly means 'please take')" he said gesturing for them to use it.

            "Domo arigatou gozaimasu (thank you very much)" said Kit with a bow as he took the flyer.

            The Area Senior made a sweeping gesture and they were enclosed in a bubble only seen with a magic-user's eye. 

            "_This will keep non-wizards from hearing you read the spell_," he murmured to them in the Speech now that no non-wizards could hear.

            "Thank you," responded Nita before turning to the spell. 

            "Now all we need are our good intentions," instructed Kit. "Ready?"

            Nita just began reading the spell in response and Kit read with her, anticipating what she was going to do. The area around the quieted as all of the forces of the world waited for them to give their request. 

            Something inside of Nita burned with a cold fire and time for her sped up as the energies whispered to her, first in English, and then in Japanese, filling her with the gift of the tongue. And because it was the energy, the wizardry speaking to her, she would not forget it. 

            Next images floated in front of her, hiragana, katakana, and kanji. She blinked and they became their English counterparts, instantly understood for forever.

            Suddenly the images stopped, cut off as if by a pair of scissors, and the wizardry let her go.

            She quickly gripped the armrest of the closest chair, willing her knees not to buckle. Her breath became harsh, tearing itself out of her throat. Glancing to her left she saw Kit in the same predicament.

            She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up at Mr. Hitoko. "Daijoubu desu ka (are you alright)?" he asked and she understood him and answered as if she'd spoken Japanese every day of her life.

            "I'm okay," she responded as her breathing slowed and her legs stopped trembling. She looked over at Kit and saw that he was noticeably better. 

            Mr. Hitoko smiled as he ended the healing spell.

            "Thank you," said Nita.

            "Yeah, thanks," echoed Kit as he stood at Nita's side.

            "It's the least I can do to the two who are helping our wizards," said Mr. Hitoko. "Follow me and I will take you to your apartment. Tomorrow I'll come back at noon to take you to Sakura Kinomoto's house."

            "Thanks again," said Kit as the two grabbed their luggage and followed the Senior out of the airport and onto the crowded streets of Tokyo. They had arrived.

~*~

            Eriol, Tomoyo, Syaoran, and Sakura once again congregated in the Kinomoto household. Sakura was busy making lunch while Tomoyo, Eriol, and Syaoran sat at the kitchen table. She had adamantly refused to let them do any work, her reason being they were guests.

            "Sakura," Eriol protested with a faint smile, "we practically live here."

            "I don't care. Sit down before I make you," said Sakura, hands on her hips.

            Her friends obeyed and Eriol thought ruefully of the time before he had taught Sakura the numerous new spells she could do with her magic. As the most powerful sorceress in the world she couldn't rely only on her cards. She had to have other options in an emergency. Each day her powers grew, and he noticed an especially prominent surge of power directly after taking the Oath.

            Sakura quickly busied herself turning on the rice maker and stirring the sauce for the noodles they were about to have. She absently sent a train of dishes, glasses, and silverware floating over to the table. It had taken her a few weeks to learn how to do that trick only using a small part of her concentration. There had been many broken dishes in the past until Fujitaka and Touya began using paper or plastic plates until she had mastered the skill.

            Just then the doorbell rang. Sakura wiped her hands on the dishtowel hanging on the chair nearest her. It only took a little concentration to keep the spoon stirring. As she headed toward the door she silently asked Syaoran to watch the sauce.

            She opened the door. A girl and a boy stood on her porch, both looking about her age. _They're from my dream,_ she remembered in shock.

            The boy looked Hispanic and was slightly chubby and taller than the girl next to him. He was wearing faded blue shorts and an off-white shirt.

            The girl had long dark hair and brown eyes. Her stance was relaxed, but she looked as if she could be ready and aggressive at any moment. She wore dark blue jeans and a loose white tank top. 

            "Yes?" asked Sakura looking from one to the other. She wasn't unduly worried, but made sure to stop the spoon just in case. There was a small splash and a yell as the spoon clattered to the floor. It had probably overbalanced. She would have to remember to make sure it slowed before stopping next time.

            The two looked puzzled, but did not inquire. 

            "Are you Kinomoto Sakura?" asked the boy. 

            "Kit! Where are your manners?" exclaimed the girl, aiming a kick at him. 

            He dodged it easily. "You're asking about _my_ manners?"

            She turned to Sakura, ignoring the boy. "My name is Nita and this is Kit, my partner. We're looking for Kinomoto Sakura. Might you be her?"

            "Yes, do you need something?" replied Sakura.

            "We're wizards sent here to teach you about the wizardry and protect you," explained Kit.

            There was a snort when Kit said the words "protect you."

            Sakura turned towards the kitchen. "Didn't anyone ever teach you not to eavesdrop on other people's conversations?" she called.

            "They tried," called back someone darkly.

            "Try having my mother teach you. Maybe then it will stick," said another male voice loudly.

            "Honestly," said a female voice, "why don't you two grow up? _Mentally_ Eriol," she added warningly.

            "Sorry, they're always like that," apologized Sakura as she let the two bemused partners in.

            "I resent that implication," said Eriol as the trio trooped into the kitchen where Syaoran was ladling out the noodles.

            "Everyone, this is Nita and Kit. They've come to help us with our wizardry. Nita, Kit, this is Eriol, Tomoyo, and Syaoran," announced Sakura pointing to each person in turn.

            "Oh good," said Tomoyo. "I can't wait to get started."

            "Would you like some lunch?" asked Sakura.

            "Sure," said Kit. "Popping over from our hotel sure gives me an appetite."

            "Popping over?" questioned Sakura.

            "We used the Beam-Me-Up-Scotty spell after Mr. Hitoko, your Area Senior, gave us the coordinates," explained Nita.

            The group gave various signs of recognition of the spell.

            "If you don't mind my asking," began Eriol after a bit, "why are you so early? You should be here in 3 1/2 to 5 1/2 weeks."

            "What do you mean?" asked Kit confused.

            "Well, Sakura did the Calling only about half a week ago," explained Eriol.

            Nita and Kit looked at her,  amazed.

            "You must be extremely powerful," said Nita in awe. "Even my little sister Dairine wasn't that powerful and she was younger than you!"

            "What does age have to do with anything?" asked Tomoyo.

            "The younger a wizard is, the more power he or she has. It's based on their belief of what they can do. I'm still not too clear on the details," said Nita. 

            Kit nodded in agreement.

            Sakura turned to the group with a slightly dreamy expression. "Why do we have the magic? I mean, why does taking the Oath somehow enable to do spells?"

            "You must have used magic before or something to be able to come up with that question so fast," said Kit half jokingly. 

            Sakura jumped slightly and immediately became alert. "Oh no, no. Nothing like that. We just study a lot," she explained nervously. Some inner sense told her not to reveal the most powerful sorceress thing just yet, and she always listened to that inner sense. It had saved her life countless times.

            Tomoyo, Syaoran, and Eriol gave her quizzical looks, but did not challenge her. 

            "Ah," said Nita. "Well, you know how humans only use a small part of their brains? About 10% or so? The Oath somehow unlocks the other 90% of your brain. Psychics are really just people who by some means or other use more than the normal part of their brain. That's how it works for humans anyway. Any other species were a bit complicated to understand."

            "Take Nita for example. No brain use, yet she's a wizard," interrupted Kit. He winced as Nita's toe connected with his shin.

            There was silence as Nita glared at Kit.

            Sakura looked around absently and noticed that the bowls were empty, so she began to levitate them over to the sink. At the last moment she remembered that she couldn't do anything but wizardry and the bowl dropped with a clatter. Luckily it had only a centimeter or two above the table.

            Everyone jumped. 

            "What was that?" asked Kit.

            "J-just the table. It's a little wobbly," Sakura hastened to explain. An alarming thought struck her. "You can't see auras can you?" she asked.

            They looked surprised at the question. 

            "Not unless we do a spell," answered Nita.

            "Why?" asked Kit.

            "Er...no reason," replied Sakura looking at her friends pleadingly for help.

            "Shall we adjourn to my house?" questioned Eriol.

            "I'll just leave Touya a note," said Sakura. "My brother's at his part time job," she explained to Nita and Kit as she wrote, "and my dad's on a business trip. My mom's dead," she added softly.

            "I'm sorry," said Nita softly. "I have an idea of what it feels like. My mom almost died of brain cancer."

            There was an awkward silence until Eriol cleared his throat. "Everybody ready?" he asked.

            They trooped out into the quiet summer heat. Sakura paused to lock the door behind her.

            Eriol opened the door and braced himself out of habit, half expecting Nakuru to come rushing out the door. But she, Spinel Sun, Yue, and Kero were in Hong Kong. _Probably giving the Li clan hell,_ he thought with a mischievous smile. 

            Nita and Kit's eyes almost popped out of their sockets when they saw the mansion that Eriol lived in. "Who lives in here besides you?" asked Kit as they walked down the dim hall.

            "Nakuru and Spinel," replied Eriol. "They're away in Hong Kong."

            "What about your parents?" asked Nita.

            "I don't have any," answered Eriol. (AN: Forgive me if this isn't correct. I don't know anything about Eriol's family, so I'm just making this up.)

            Nita and Kit left it at that.

            Eriol led the group into his rather large living room. It had three dark red sofas scattered about, along with several chairs and a fireplace built into the far wall. The walls were white washed with a huge window in facing the garden, and the floor was made of mahogany.

            "This is beautiful!" exclaimed Nita flopping onto a couch. 

            The others followed her example and sat down as well.

            "Where are you staying?" asked Tomoyo.

            "In Tokyo."

            "That far away?" asked Syaoran in surprise.

            "It's easy to use the Beam-Me-Up-Scotty spell," replied Kit.

            "I have an idea. Why don't you stay with me? I have plenty of room," suggested Eriol.

            "Are you sure? I...mean."

            "Of course I'm sure," replied Eriol.

            "And you're doing us a favor after all," chimed in Sakura.

            "If it's okay," agreed Nita. "We'll bring our stuff over and check out when we're through with this session. Oh and when we stopped in Seattle we met a Kimberly and her friend who told us about you. She said to tell you 'hi'."

            "So Kimberly's a wizard now?" asked Sakura absently. "Wait, what exactly did she tell you?"

            "Just that the whole group of you became wizards instead of just Sakura, and you needed to learn as much wizardry as possible."

            "And actually," said Kit, "I'm not sure if she is a wizard. When I looked up her name, she wasn't there, and neither was the spell she did. There were close ones, but none exactly like what she did to keep Neets on the space needle."

            The cardcaptor gang exchanged significant glances as Nita said dangerously, "And you were going to tell me this _when_?"

            "I didn't think it was important," said Kit cringing.

            **She said she wanted to keep busy after we captured the Bind cards,** said Sakura telepathically to the other three. **She must be helping the wizards over there.**

**            I wonder why she didn't tell us,** said Tomoyo.

            **She must have known something like this was going to happen and didn't want to interfere with it,** suggested Eriol.

            "How far have you gotten in the Manual?" asked Kit, changing the subject and getting down to business.

            "We're up to chapter 31 and we know several simple phrases in the Speech," answered Syaoran.

            Kit whistled. "Wow. You must be really into this."

            "Well, it wasn't really that hard," said Tomoyo.

            "By chance, have you looked at your ratings yet?" asked Nita exchanging glances with Kit.

            "Ratings?" asked Sakura.

            "Right...here," said Kit flipping her to the beginning of the directory.

            "Who's first?" she murmured to herself. "Daidouji...Daidouji...Here it is."

DAIDOUJI, Tomoyo,

382 W. Chikara Rd.,

Tomoeda, Japan 35978

(856) 651-3843. 

Novice Rating

(RL +12.4 +/- 0.19)

On Ordeal: no calls

            Kit's and Nita's mouths dropped open. _Good Lord._

_            Yeah_, agreed Kit numbly, picking up on her thought.

            Next was:

HIIRAGIZAWA, Eriol,

368 SW Tchi Blvd.,

Tomoeda, Japan 35978

(856) 395-1245.

Novice Rating

(RL +12.4 +/- 0.19)

On Ordeal: no calls

      Sakura accidentally skipped her name, so went on to:

LI, Syaoran,

374 SW Kaado St. Apt. #5,

Tomoeda, Japan 35978

(856) 684-0305.

Novice rating

(RL +12.4 +/- 0.19)

On Ordeal: no calls

_            T-they were all the same! _

_            Uh huh,_ said Kit. 

            They had a real shock when Sakura came to her name.

KINOMOTO, Sakura,

384 S. Hoshi Drive,

Tomoeda, Japan 35978

(856) 637-0389.

Novice rating

(RL +14.7 +/- 0.16)

On Ordeal: no calls

_            Sweet Powers That Be!_

When they said nothing Sakura asked timidly, "Are they good?"

            No response.

            Eriol chuckled. "Judging by their response, I'd say very good," he said amiably.

            Kit looked at them. "You have powers that not even the youngest wizard has access to and control that would take several years of practice to reach."

            Sakura was caught up in the moment as was everyone else and said without thinking, "It's probably the ca- er...cat!" She realized at the last minute that she was about to slip.

            "Cat?" asked Nita.

            Technically it was true. Kero had tutored her and he was cat-like in his true form.

            "What cat?" replied Sakura, wincing inwardly at how suspicious that sounded.

            Syaoran, meanwhile, was mentally banging his head against a wall. It was the second time she had slipped today.

            Kit and Nita exchanged looks.

            _They're hiding something,_ sent Nita to Kit.

            _Yep,_ he replied.


	3. Damn, The Secret's Out aka The Consequen...

Here's to all you patient people out there who love me. Of which there is none of I'm sure. *grumbles* The things an author has to do to please her audience. Anyway, I know there are more of you that read this than review. Just click the button down there [\/], and tell me what you think.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Cinnamon gum is like mochi. At first it's soft, but as time goes on it gets harder."

-Mystical Magician

All:sweatdrop

Eriol: "Our author is an idiot."

Syaoran: "I think she lost a few marbles."

Mystical Magician: "Hey! You can call me weird and psycho - it was one of those moments that made me think up this - but I am _not _an idiot."

Tomoyo: mutters: "Sounds like one to me."

Sakura:nods

Mystical Magician: sobs: "Everyone hates me. ~brightens~ Some reviews might make me feel better."

Sakura: "Something tells me that you're going to be pretty sad for a long time."

Mystical Magician: pouts

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            Sakura looked up at her father who was currently washing the dishes.

            "Dad, I'm a wizard now," she informed him.

            "I thought you were the most powerful sorceress in the world," commented Fujitaka absently as he scrubbed a plate.

            Sakura opened her mouth to answer, closed it, and opened it again. "Well, I am. I think Nita and Kit said I was really powerful too."

            Fujitaka paused and his voice deepened. As a half reincarnation he was subject to these moments brought to him by Clow. "With great power comes great responsibility. Trust your guides and they will trust you, but beware the Maker of Lies and break the news to your friend for she will need to know and you will need her help."

            Sakura raised her eyebrow questioningly.

            Fujitaka dropped the dish back into the sudsy water. He turned to his daughter, wiping the water off of his glasses. "He did it again, didn't he?" he asked with a sigh.

            Sakura nodded silently.

            "Be careful Sakura. And warn us if you're going to be gone for more than a day. I'll try to break it to Touya somehow."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            Nita and Kit were awoken at some ungodly hour the next day by a loud squealy voice.

            "What the-," mumbled Kit as he pushed the tangled bedsheets off of him.

            "Where's the fire?" asked Nita sleepily, sitting up. 

            They could faintly hear noises coming from the kitchen.

            "What the hell...here?"

            "They...me to..."

            "Go _back_...Hong Kong. I...guests...don't know...are."

            "_But Eriol_..."

            "I SAID GO _BACK_! I DON'T _CARE_ IF YOU GIVE THE LI CLAN, KERO, YUE, _AND_ SPINEL HELL! I DON'T CARE IF YOU KILL THEM! JUST GO!"

            In the dead silence they could hear the girl say, "Um, Eriol. I need your magic to get there."

            They could feel his embarassment from where they were above him. "Make sure...the Li clan...you there."

            Nita and Kit listened for a moment, but the girl made no sound, so they decided to make sure that she wasn't dead.

            "Ohayo minna," said Eriol cheerfully from his place at the stove. He was frying sausages and making scrambled eggs at the same time. "You're up early."

            "What happened? And do you make it a habit, because I happen to like my rest," said Kit.

            Eriol dropped his frying pan and just barely managed to catch it. Neither Nita nor Kit in their half asleep state realized that it should have burned him.

            "Oh that," he said blandly. "Sakura called and asked if we wanted to go on a picnic with her." He left out that Nakuru had appeared soon after.

            Nita raised her eyebrows. "And for this you bit her head off? And what did Hong Kong and - what were the names- Kero, Yuu, and Spiney? - have to do with a picnic."

            Eriol choked back a laugh with great difficulty. "Kero, Yue, and Spinel. And she wanted to pop over and visit Li's family in Hong Kong."

            "Oh yeah. That would be hard to explain how we got there," said Kit with a nod.

            Eriol coughed in an attempt to keep from laughing. "Er...yes, that might be hard to explain."

            "So do you want to go on the picnic?" he asked while scooping breakfast into their plates.

            "Su-."

            "Sorry, but we have some business to take care of. School and such," interrupted Kit.

            "Oh, yes. The joys of high school," said Eriol making a face. "Well I have to go get my stuff together for the picnic." He stood and undid his apron as he left.

            "What are you talking about?" hissed Nita. "We already enrolled in Tomoeda High."

            "I want to find out what they're hiding. I have a spell in mind that will make us invisible," replied Kit in a low voice.

            "Oh no," said Nita firmly. "I'm not doing this."

~*~

            "I can't believe I'm doing this," muttered Nita as she drew a circle around the last ingredient for the spell.

            Kit glanced out the window and saw Eriol closing the door. "We have to hurry Neets."

            "Well then, let's go," she replied and together they read from the pages of what had become their life. The final syllable hung in the air, like the ringing of a tiny bell.

            "Hurry," urged Nita, the only one who could see Kit since she was also invisible from the same spell.

            They followed Eriol at a distance from habit. 

            "Now I know how Rhiow feels," said Nita as she dodged someone who was coming at her full on and was jostled by the elbow of someone else.

            They sighed in relief when Eriol reached a secluded section of the park in a grove of trees, bushes, and blackberry plants.

            "We were beginning to wonder if you would show up," remarked Syaoran, looking less than happy to see him.

            "Ah, but how could I disappoint my cute little descendant?" said Eriol gallantly.

            Nita and Kit exchanged puzzled glances from where they sat at the edge of the clearing. They shrugged at this little quirk and turned back to watch them.

            Sakura and Tomoyo were forcibly holding Syaoran back as he strained to reach Eriol.

            "Both of you knock it off, damn it!" shouted Sakura. "We've been through this a million freaking times!"

            Syaoran and Eriol stared at her in shock.

            "Since when did you start swearing?" asked Eriol cautiously.

            "Since you two won't shut up!" She levitated Eriol so that he was positioned over the blackberry bushes and then fixed Syaoran with a glare that could compete with his own.

            Eriol briefly tried to counteract her magic, but when Sakura put her mind to it, no one with less power could escape her wrath.

            "Now you are going to apologize to each other, and you're going to do it correctly," snapped Sakura. "You've had your warning, so don't make me mad."

            Tomoyo giggled. "Someone got up a bit too early this morning."

            Sakura looked quickly at Tomoyo and grinned. "I wanted to ask everyone before I forgot."

            Consequentially, Sakura forgot she was still levitating Eriol above the blackberry bushes and let go, in a manner of saying. 

            There was a crash and a large thump.

            "Ow," said a weak voice.

            "Oh my gosh," gasped Sakura and levitated him out of there and in front of her. "Gomen nasai! I'm so sorry! Daijoubu desu ka (are you all right)?

            "Luckily I remembered how to summon a wizardly shield. They're a bit stronger than my usual ones," said Eriol wincing.

            Tomoyo picked a thorny branch out of his hair and tossed it behind her. "Shouldn't we be practicing more wizardry and less sorcery?" she asked.

            Sakura grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. I know sorcery better than wizardry and tend to use it more.

            _You look like a fish out of water,_ sent Nita to Kit.

            _You don't look much better,_ he retorted. _So they _have_ used magic before. I always thought there was just wizardry._

_            So did I._

"Hey," said Sakura as she popped a blackberry in her mouth. "Let's pick the blackberries and then I can make a pie or something. Kero's not here, so we can actually make it without a guard."

            Eriol chuckled. "Yes, let's."

            "Why don't you see if the cards want to come out?" suggested Tomoyo as Syaoran summoned some baskets using the Beam-Me-Up-Scotty spell, slowly and laboriously looking up each pronunciation.

            "Okay," said Sakura brightly and reached into her pockets.

            Nita and Kit exchanged dazed glances. Whatever happened next couldn't be more surprising than they had already found out.

            They were wrong.

            Sakura brought out the whole pack of cards and pushed them clockwise with her right hand so that they formed a circle around her. Then she summoned her star staff.

"Key of my star with 

Powers burning bright

Release the staff and

Shine your light!

Release!"

            The cards began to float and sway around her as they felt the pull of the staff.

            "Those who wish to be free of their power confine may do so. Release!"

            Sakura raised the staff above her head and light surrounded her. When the light died down she held out her hand in front of her and many of the cards stacked up in her hand. She put them away and looked around satisfied and only slightly out of breath.

            Bubbles and Watery were splashing in the creek at the edge of the grove. Light, Dark, Windy, Mirror, Escape, Clone, and Mist were helping pick blackberries. Firey, Sand, and Erase were near the creek conversing. Firey hissed as water droplets flew at him. Fly and Sleep were perched on a tree branch above the picnic basket. And Dash nuzzled up to Sakura who laughed and petted him while Thunder lay basking in the sun, content.

            _I think I'm dreaming,_ said Nita, awed.

            _Then we're both dreaming the exact same things,_ sent Kit.

            _Hey, it could happen._

            "Dash!" exclaimed Sakura pretending to be angry. "If you keep eating all of the blackberries we pick, we'll never have enough to make a pie with."

            Dash gave her a quick lick, his tongue purple from the berries, and bounded off. He paused near Syaoran and ran up onto his head.

            "Hey!" protested Syaoran as Dash reached his head and jumped onto Eriol's shoulder. Eriol gave him a quick pat on the head before he leaped over to Tomoyo who was nearest Kit and Nita. He settled onto her shoulder and wrapped his tail around her neck like a feather boa.

            "Hello Dash," she greeted him, slipping him a blackberry.

            Just then the wind changed sending Kit's and Nita's scent towards the group. Dash sniffed the air and looked directly at Kit and Nita.

            _They can't see us, can they?_ questioned Kit.

            _How should I know? _snapped Nita tensely.

            They relaxed when the small, animal-like creature turned back to Tomoyo.

            Who's out there? 

      Tomoyo looked down at Dash in surprise. "Did I just understand you?"

            You did! You did understand me! Youdid, youdid, youdid! 

            He made a noise akin to a giggle and licked Tomoyo's face.

            "What did you mean, who's out there?" asked Tomoyo curiously.

            Someone's there. Two someones. Cloaked in magic. Do I get a berry now?

            Tomoyo laughed. "Of course. Let's go over to see Sakura. She'll need to know about this. I'm guessing they're not dangerous if they haven't attacked yet."

            They walked over to where Sakura had her hand on Thunder and was conversing with him, mind to mind.

            "Sakura," called Tomoyo softly, "Dash says that there are two people cloaked in magic over there." She tilted her head slightly in the direction.

            "Yes. Thunder and some other cards said the same." Then what she said sank in. "You can talk to the cards?!"

            Tomoyo was silent and listened. For once she heard the murmur of the cards talking to each other. "It just started now," she said in wonder.

            "It must be the wizardry," said Sakura cheerfully.

            "Yeah," agreed Tomoyo.

            **Eriol, Syaoran, we have company.**

**            I never noticed their auras, **said Syaoran in surprise.

            **Neither did I,** said Eriol. 

            **Well, we were kind of - er - distracted,** Tomoyo sent. She looked surprised. **How did I do that?**

Eriol chuckled. "Now where might these visitors be?" he said aloud.

            Nita and Kit appeared, much to their surprise, thanks to Sakura.

            "I suppose we could make them forget...," suggested Sakura. "Eriol?"

            He summoned his staff and pointed it at the two. "Forget," he intoned.

            Nita's and Kit's views blurred for a moment and then steadied.

            "What...?" said Nita in confusion shaking her head to clear it. She immediately regretted the action and put her head in her hands.

            "_Hihhhh_," muttered Kit, a word he had learned from Urruah.

            "Kit," said Nita, giving him a look almost equivalent to the time she had caught him saying _sswiass_.

            "Hmph. It didn't work Eriol," growled Syaoran.

            "Maybe Erase," said Sakura thoughtfully, looking over to the trio next to the creek.

            "No," said Eriol, his voice deepening. "They have proved to be teachers we need and for them to help us with our Ordeal, they need to know what they are working with. And Tomoyo needs to know as well."

            Tomoyo looked up startled. "What?"

            Eriol sighed and said in his normal voice, "Clow did it again, didn't he?"

            "He did it last night too with my dad," informed Sakura.

            "What is going on here?" demanded Kit.

            "Well," said Sakura hesitantly. She sighed and then plunged right in. "Eriol is the half reincarnation of one of the most powerful sorcerers in the world, Clow Reed. Syaoran is a descendant of Clow Reed and a member of the Li clan in Hong Kong, most of them magic-users. Tomoyo is daughter to Sonomi Daidouji, the owner of Sonomi toys. She is also an enchantress in her own right, her power having lain dormant for most of her life. And I." Sakura gave a wry grin. "I'm the most powerful sorceress in the world. Our wizardly talents reflect our own magical talents as you can see."

            Tomoyo was almost as shocked as Nita and Kit. She was an enchantress? 

            "Oh, uh." Kit didn't get much farther than that.

            "Please don't treat us like celebrities or anything," said Sakura hastily. "We're just regular kids like you."

            Nita snorted elegantly. "And what's all this?" she asked gesturing at the grove. "These cards or whatever you called them."

            Syaoran spoke for the first time. "It all started with an idiot named Clow Reed," he began.

            Eriol glared at him.

            Sakura looked at Syaoran warningly and he hastily went into te technical details of how the cards were made and how they were captured by Sakura and then changed into Sakura cards. 

            Then Sakura explained about her adventures in the U.S. as an exchange student with Kimberly and the Bind cards. (AN: For those of you who have no clue what I'm talking about, read my fic Book of Secrets)

            "And these cards," said Sakura with a certain fondness, "these cards I made. She showed them Love and Hope. Then she took out Fix. "Kimberly made me this one as a Christmas present. She thought it would be useful. Especially since I was just learning to levitate dishes," Sakura informed them with a laugh.

            "All this...," murmured Nita. Then she remembered what Kim had said.

'**_I can see why the Powers want her whole team. She tips the scale in our favor.' _**

            "I wonder why the Powers haven't made you a wizard before this," said Kit.

            "Maybe to give her a chance to hone her skills," suggested Syaoran.

            Eriol cocked his head to one side as if listening to a voice. "To be honest, I don't think they knew. Or at least they didn't know very much. We've certainly kept to ourselves and Clow and Misshitsude have also helped keep the secret in their own ways. After all," he said with a grin, "they're still great magic-users and not really dead."

            Tomoyo shook her head. "I've never understood how that works."

            I don't think Eriol does either, said one of the Sakura cards.

            They giggled.

            Eriol glanced at them, but couldn't tell which one it was.

            "They can talk?" questioned Kit.

            "Of course. If you know how to listen," said Sakura.

            "How long have you known about my magic?" asked Tomoyo dangerously.

            "Um, since I started training," Sakura told her cautiously. "The magic in the costumes was so subtle it took me a while to notice it."

            "Magic in the costumes?" echoed Tomoyo.

            "Yeah. You sing while you sew, don't you?" 

            Tomoyo nodded.

            "It kept me safe during my adventures. Thanks. We didn't say anything because we didn't know how you would react. We were going to tell you after giving you a bit more training and rousing your magic a little more."

            "Training?"

            "Eriol's been training you without you knowing it. You've been practicing singing more, you know. You have to be perfectly tuned for your song magic to work," Sakura told her.

            Tomoyo thought about it and realized Sakura was right. She _had_ been singing more than usual and she was getting the notes she wanted.

            "Now Eriol will train you when Nita and Kit aren't teaching us the Speech and the spells," said Syaoran.

            "A warning," said Nita. "During your Ordeal you can use sorcery and enchantments, but the final confrontation _must _use wizardry. I always thought it meant we couldn't use mundane means, but now I know it meant other forms of magic also."

            They were silent and the cards returned to what they had been doing.

            "Would you like to join us?" invited Sakura. "We're picking blackberries and later I'll make a pie or two with them."

            "Sure," agreed Nita and Kit nodded in agreement.

            It was a new experience using wizardry freely for Kit and Nita. Everywhere they looked berries or branches or even people were levitating in an effort to get the best blackberries.

            "Do you do this often?" asked Nita, laughing as she tossed a blackberry at Dash.

            "Every once in a while we make it a point to invite the cards out and make a party of it," explained Sakura cheerfully. "I love the cards and they love me as their mistress. I don't only want to use them to fight. I want them to have fun. After all, they deserve it."

            "Can other people use the cards, or just you?" questioned Kit.

            "I don't know," said Sakura thoughtfully. "Maybe if they have enough power and the cards like them... What do you think Eriol?"

            Eriol looked deep in thought. "I assume so. They may work for Tomoyo, Syaoran, and me, since Tomoyo is Sakura's best friend and has been there for almost all of the captures and conversions, Syaoran is a descendant of Clow Reed and has captured several of them. Also, he lov-" He stopped as he felt Syaoran's murderous glare. "I mean, works with Sakura. And I am the reincarnation of their creator. Also, we all have power and hang out together. Of course, it would take a lot more out of us than if Sakura used them. We should experiment sometime."

            Kit looked around at the beauty of it all. The friendship and happiness was almost tangible. This is what wizardry was meant to be like. 

            Nita was having very similar thoughts.

            _I wish Tom and Carl could be here to see this._

Sakura, Tomoyo, Syaoran, and Eriol felt magic flare right before two men appeared. 

            Sakura and Eriol immediately summoned their staffs as Syaoran summoned his sword and Tomoyo pushed the record button on her camera.

            Meanwhile Thunder bounded in front of Sakura, teeth bared, fur standing on end, and lightning appeared to dance across his body. Dash tensed from his perch on Tomoyo's shoulder and the other cards stood alert and ready.

            "Tom? Carl? What are you doing here?" asked Kit.

            "What did you two _do?_" asked Sakura.

            "We were just wishing - oh," said Nita. 

            "Oh? What's 'oh'? And who are they?" demanded Syaoran.

            "They're Tom and Carl, our Area Seniors. We sorta wished they were here. I guess with all of the magic centered in this area it magnified the wish and turned it into a spell," explained Kit sheepishly.

            The group relaxed and Thunder lay back down keeping a watchful eye on the newcomers.

            "Nita, Kit, who are they? And more importantly, what are they?" asked Carl, watching cautiously as the staffs became keys once again. (AN: Tom and Carl have performed other language spells in the past and since they're permanent they can understand Japanese).

            Tom nudged Carl with his elbow. "Manners, Carl," he reproved him.

            "I'm Sakura Kinomoto. This is Syaoran Li, Tomoyo Daidouji, and Eriol Hiiragizawa. We're new wizards."

            Carl always liked to look up the statistics of wizards he was dealing with and this was no exception. He took his Manual from storage and flipped through the pages. When he came to Sakura's listings he frowned. "Run a virus scan on the listings," he told the book in the Speech.

            "No virus found," said the book in soft monotone.

            "Run check for any interference to proper functions."

            "No interference found."

            Carl showed his findings to Tom as the group looked on in curiosity.

            Tom's eyebrows shot up in disbelief. "How old did you say you were?" he asked.

            "14," answered Tomoyo, faithfully filming everything.

            "They're extremely powerful," said Nita quietly. "It took Sakura half a week to summon us with the Calling."

            Tom gave a low whistle. 

            Carl crossed his arms and closed his eyes concentrating on the spell he was preparing. When he opened his eyes everything was glowing. He was now able to see auras. 

            Carl circled Sakura and then examined Syaoran, Eriol, and Tomoyo in turn.

            "Ah," said Carl, collapsing the spell. His partner looked at him curiously.

            "As well as wizards we have an enchantress, two sorcerers, and a sorceress. But these," he turned to the cards, "these I know nothing about."

            "They're Sakura cards formerly known as Clow cards," explained Eriol jovially. "I'm the half reincarnation of their creator, Clow Reed."

            Tom and Carl gave a start at the mention of the name.

            "Fujitaka, Sakura's father, is the other half," continued Eriol. "Syaoran here is a descendant of Clow Reed and a part of the Li clan. Tomoyo has just recently learned of her powers."

            "Like, today," interrupted Tomoyo.

            "And Sakura is the Mistress of the Cards as well as being the most powerful sorceress in the world, followed closely by Kimberly in Washington state."

            "So that must be what all the fuss was about," murmured Tom. "The Manual never mentioned anything about this."

            "Well, we had some help," mumbled Sakura.

            "Really? Who?"

            "Clow and Misshitsude. We like our privacy," said Syaoran.

            "Clow? He was a great magician. Didn't want to become a wizard though he was offered many times," said Tom thoughtfully.

            "Really?" said Nita. "I never read anything about him."

            "No, I don't expect so. It's not information given lightly," said Carl.

            "So that must be the western magic," said Sakura.

            "Yeah. I don't have those memories, though. I must have a talk with Fujitaka soon," muttered Eriol.

            "Half reincarnations." Carl shook his head. "Jeez."

            "Yeah," said Syaoran wickedly. "He was a bit kichigai."

            Eriol chose to ignore that comment.

            "Would you like me to send you home?" asked Sakura timidly.

            "Sure," said Tom easily. "It'll be a new experience."

            "Sorry for getting you into this mess," apologized Kit.

            "Yeah. We didn't realize how all this magic would amplify our own," added Nita.

            "Don't worry about it," grinned Carl. "We do this more than you think. And I must say, it has been an experience."

"Key of my star 

With powers burning bright

Reveal the staff

And shine your light!

Release!"

            Sakura twirled the staff expertly and then thrust it upward.

"Teleport! Take these two to their homes! Release and dispel!"

            "And no funny business," she called after it as Tom and Carl disappeared.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hello everybody! So sorry for the delay. Our computer had a virus so I couldn't update and we couldn't get anyone over to fix the computer. Sorry again. And if you want to know who it was that Nita and Kit heard Eriol arguing with, it was Nakuru, _not_ Sakura. The Li clan sent her back for clinging to various members, making Suppi drunk on sugar, chasing Yue and Kero, and just basically making life hell. Of course she can't come back until Eriol says they can, so Hong Kong must put up with her as Li clan members are dying right and left from overexposure. Ja ne!

-Mystical Magician


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